His and Her Drinks
by Chloe Veverka
Summary: Thrown together as a team, Jane Carter and William Brandt take a step back to get to know each other by having drinks all over the world. What starts as unintentional definitely changes. Story begins at the end of MI: Ghost Protocol. Fluff & lovey stuff.


**Author's Note:** I'm sad that there are few Jane Carter/William Brandt stories out there, so hopefully the ones I've been inspired to write have been entertaining at best! This story is an idea I'm test driving over a few chapters, inspired by a glass of wine. Jane and Will get to know each other by sharing a drink all over the world.

Chapter One takes place immediately at the end of MI: GP (like an alternate take to my story, "Acceptance").

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the _Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol _characters.

xxxxx

Chapter One: Cheers

William was feeling better than he had in a long time. He was active duty again, having learned that the protection job he'd botched had gone fine after all. The weight of a thousand restless nights, staring at the back of his eyelids as his mind drifted to the hideous human remains he mistook for Julia Hunt, were slowly lifting with each passing moment. The mission he was inextricably drawn into had ended on a victorious note. And he had a team to belong to again. He chuckled softly to himself, a wave of happiness surging through him. It was enough to make him want a celebration drink, even if that meant grabbing it alone.

The Seattle bar was dark, fairly small, and fairly quiet for its pier location. He figured it was the chill atmosphere that scared patrons away to the brighter, louder, touristier bars on the docks. But to him, the place was perfect for a quick beer before getting some much needed rest.

So it was much to his surprise when his eyes stopped naturally scanning the room for any suspicious characters and fell upon the sight of Jane Carter at the bar. She faced the doorway, an obvious side effect to her training; you never give your foe the chance to sneak up on you. And her eyes were instantly on him. She offered a hint of a smile, and he returned it with a large one as he walked towards her.

"Will."

He nodded at her. "Jane. Wasn't expecting to see your lovely face here."

She shrugged off his compliment, taking a sip of her drink. He noticed the glass was full, so she must have only recently gotten it. He also noticed the barely-there press of lip gloss on the rim from where her lips had landed. The sight made him inextricably thirsty.

"We saved the world today. Figured, 'why not one for the road?'"

Will slid himself onto the stool next to hers. "Great minds think alike, then." He made eye contact with the bartender and ordered a beer. "I'd forgotten how great it feels when a job goes well."

She nodded her head slowly. "It's been a bit of time for you." Her eyebrow quirked. "Feel any less rusty now?"

He smirked. "I think I did pretty well out there considering, ma'am."

It was her turn to smirk. "Don't call me ma'am. You make it sound like I'm your grandmother."

"Heaven forbid," he returned. "Though you'd make quite a hot grandmother, if that's the case..."

Jane had to catch herself from sputtering into her beer, letting a soft laugh float in the air. Her eyes met his with a sparkle in them he hadn't seen before. "That's sick, Will."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I am what I am."

"And what's that exactly?"

"A man in need of a beer. Thanks," he replied with a grateful grin to the bartender who pressed the cold glass into his hand. Will looked to Jane, whose eyes were watching him with curiosity. He held his glass towards her. "To the new team," he offered.

A half-smile graced her face as she clinked her beer to his. "Cheers."

The two sipped their drinks, savoring the cold liquid that slid down their throats.

"So..." Will began, running a hand against the back of his head. Jane's eyebrow rose slightly as a question mark. He paused before he leaned closer to her. "You feel like talking about what's weighing you down?"

She blinked back her slight surprise at his reading of her, but recovered just as quickly. Her gaze dropped to the amber liquid in her glass. "My old team."

He nodded in understanding. "The agent killed in the line of duty at the beginning of this mission."

"Yeah."

"I figured as much. Still doesn't make me any less sorry that happened."

She sighed. "It happens. Especially in our line of work."

"Yeah, but it's always hard when one of us goes down. Especially a good one. Especially someone we care about," he treaded lightly.

"All true," she admitted. She risked a moment to meet William's gaze. "It's hit harder than I..." She stopped, trying to settle her thoughts into the right words.

"Just talk," William encouraged softly.

She looked back at him, then off into the distance. "Just that...You know we're all going to be gone one day. You just don't expect it to happen with so much...abruptness...like that." She took another, longer swig. "I wasn't prepared."

"None of us ever are. Not really. Even when a person's health is bad and he figures there's not much time, it's still hard to deal with the finality once it hits you." William looked down into his drink. "I can't believe my boss is gone. Feels like my phone'll ring at any second with a text update from him. I have to keep reminding myself his body's across the ponds."

Jane looked sympathetically at him. "I'm sorry for your loss, too."

"Yeah," he said, a little more guarded than a second ago. "He was a great man. Had a hard job, but did it admirably. Died quickly. We can only hope for so much."

Jane sighed, but he could sense her nod next to him. She then chuckled softly, raising her glass towards him. "To the fallen," she offered.

William gave her a sad smile before mimicking her actions. "To the fallen."

She curled her hair behind an ear, searching for the right words. "Sorry for bringing down your good mood. This isn't a funeral—we should be celebrating the fact that you're back in the field after all that paper pushing."

He waved his hand dismissively. "No big deal. I took myself out of rotation; I could've probably gotten back in sooner, had I not been a coward about it."

"I don't think it's cowardly that you recognized you weren't stable enough to do the job. Better to step back than to put yourself in harm's way. And besides," she said, leaning closer in, "you wouldn't be on the team had you jumped back in sooner rather than later.

His face broke into a sincere smile. "Good point."

"And think about all the randomness you'd be missing out on, courtesy of Benji," she added with a smile.

William laughed. "Serious missing out."

Her elbow on the counter, Jane rested her head on her hand so her hair cascaded like a waterfall around her. William found his eyes transfixed by the glossy strands. "This is nice," she conceded.

"It is, isn't it? You know, I've been too wired to even think about going to sleep. I figured a drink would help, but didn't really want to do it by myself right now. I'm glad you beat me to it."

"Yeah. I'm glad you're here, too. It's a little less lonely and pathetic when you have a drinking buddy."

"What you're really saying is that me being here is helping to keep the local vultures at bay from circling you for your number?" William teased.

Jane's nose wrinkled in disgust. Will didn't think she knew she'd even done it; nor could she fathom how cute the action was. "Not that I can't handle myself, but that is a perk."

"Aww, come on, Jane. Can you blame them? You basically have a sign over your head saying, 'Single and open-minded because I'm *here* when I could be *anywhere*' look."

"Yeah yeah yeah," she answered, rolling her eyes.

The pair sat in companionable silence, occasionally sipping their beers while watching as other patrons came and left the dark bar. There wasn't any reason to force conversation-the excitement of the recent mission was draining from their bodies, leaving in its wake a sense of accomplishment but a heavy load of exhaustion. As her glass became transparent, a thin film of froth clinging to the sides, Jane quietly removed some bills from her wallet and left them on the bar. Enough bills, Will noted, to cover both of their drinks.

"Welcome aboard," she told him softly, a husky cloud of fatigue floating over her words. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Will repeated, watching her slip through the crowd and disappear through the door. He kicked back the rest of his own drink, but took a moment to look down at the money. He laughed softly to himself, thinking, _Next one's on me_, before pushing his own way through the bar and into the night.


End file.
